And Then There Were Four

 

Last week, our little family of three became four.

We are all overly smitten with our newest addition – Blake Everly Cooper who had a bit of a dramatic entrance to the world during the week hours of the morning on August 21st. (Check out our announcement on Facebook!)

It was bittersweet the last few weeks of waiting for her arrival and saying good-bye to Branden being an only child. But we were all so anxious to see what she would look like and how it would all happen. She proved that she makes the decisions right from the start and her birth story is a unique one.

As you all know, I worked with a midwife this time around and was seeking a completely different birthing experience (with B I had ALL the drugs and now I hoped to have a completely natural experience this time). Since we were only a 4 block walk to the hospital and I was anticipating to be in pain, our plan was so labor at home as much as possible and walk to the hospital as soon as contractions were in the 2-3 minute apart range.

But, that’s not exactly how it all went down.

Instead, we waited and waited, as she ended up coming 3 days past her due date. On the 3rd day (last Saturday night), my husband went to visit his mom in Brooklyn, while I was at home with Branden and my Aunt Lorraine who came from Pittsburgh to help us. It seemed like a typical night, as nothing was happening – and then some contractions slowly started at 7pm. Keep track until 10:30pm, I finally texted Chris to come home because they weren’t stopping, but still totally manageable pain wise.

He left his moms, but the road to come home was undergoing construction that night and he got stuck in hours of traffic for what should have been only a 45 minute drive. While he was stuck, my contractions were getting worse and worse and I was doing my best to breathe through them. Around midnight they let up and I decided to lay down and get a tiny bit of rest. Then at exactly 1:09am (while I was sleeping), my water broke and things got real – husband still only stuck in traffic in midtown.

I jumped in the shower because I needed to clean up – duh, and then started getting really nauseous and not able to keep anything in my system – not even a sip of ginger ale. I got to the point where I could barely stand because I was so weak and at the point of passing out, plus trying to get through very severe contractions. I couldn’t move, yet needed to stand in a certain position just to get through the pain. My Aunt and I finally made the executive decision to break down and call an ambulance because I couldn’t walk across my bedroom let alone the 4 blocks to get to the hospital.

Chris ended up getting home just in time to ride with me to the hospital and after I got through triage, it didn’t matter that my midwife wasn’t on duty or that I didn’t have a birthing spa to wade in – I just needed to push.

At 3:55am, 4 pushes later, little miss Blake Everly was lying skin to skin with me and I felt a euphoria that I have never felt before.

I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything that I had hoped to gain from my original birth plan and we are all just so happy that she’s here. Branden is so busy being a big brother and loves all of the new things that she does each day. Chris and I are overjoyed about being parents again and feel like our family is finally complete.

I’m actually writing this post during one of the laziest days we have had in a long time. A day that would typically make me go crazy because I feel the constant need to be doing things. But on this day, I feel whole, at peace and magic as I scan the room and look at Chris, Branden and Blake – our perfect little family of four.

Fashionably Yours,

Allison